Triad Math and Science Academy:Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement

Page created April 13, 2011; last updated August 11, 2013by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public SchoolsTriad (tmsacharter.org) is a publicly-funded charter school in Greensboro,
North Carolina. Its sister school is Triangle Math and Science Academy (tmsacademy.org) in Cary.

In May 2010, Triad hosted a Turkish Festival. As with other Gulen charter schools, Triad
students participate in the Turkish Olympiads, which are run by the Gulen Movement.

On Jan 25, 2012, a local paper (Indy Week) ran a story (link) about the connections of both the Triad and the (at that time) proposed new Triangle school to the Gulen Movement. On Feb 21, 2012, another Indy Week story (link) about Triad/Triangle covered the arrest of board member and Triangle founder Kenan Gundogdu for missing a traffic court date; this follows a pattern of Gulenists receiving an unusual number of traffic citations across the US.

Further connections with the Gulen Movement are shown by the multiple affiliations, both past and present, of the following individuals.

“Volunteer” Teaching and Administrative Intern, Fulton
Science Academy “During this time, he
assisted the governing board of the school with the renewal process of the
charter which was approved for another five years. During his internship, he
helped and consulted several other charter school applications in Georgia,
Florida, Tennessee South Carolina, and North Carolina including Triad Math and
Science Academy. He also helped two charter schools in Florida to be
established and recruit students.” (quote
from Wake Math and Scienc Academy application) “Taught math classes and
received training in academics and discipline parts of administration.” (quote from Piedmont IT Academy application)

Charter School Application and Establishment Consultant
“Consulted several charter schools during their application process and start
up in GA, FL, TN, SC, DE, and NC” (quote from Piedmont IT Academy application)

(Note: It is worth noting that Mr. Tekten is described as an "intern"
being trained in teaching and administration at the same time that he was
acting as a "consultant" to assist with writing charter applications and founding
new schools. To be simultaneously an
intern-in-training and a consultant is a highly unusual arrangement.)

Ali Tombak

Founder, Triad Math and Science Academy

Author, Fountain Magazine (Main publication of the Gulen Movement in US; Fethullah Gulen writes the lead article of each issue)

Wrote online recommendation of Virginia International University for learning
English (VIU is a Gulenist institution)